Gardaí warn of rental scams

Seamus Enright

Gardaí are advising students to be wary of rental scams, particularly at this time as the rush for accommodation builds before returning to college. The warning comes as somewhere between 300 and 400 students are still believed to be seeking rental accommodation in the Cavan Town area as classes resumed at Cavan Institute on Monday of this week.
According to An Garda Siochána, students have been duped out of deposits paid on houses they’ve only seen online and without meeting the prospective landlord in the accommodation to be rented.
The elaborate scam sees the fraudsters establish phone numbers, identifications and banking details to swindle potential student renters out of hundreds of euros.
The electronic payments are often quickly withdrawn and the renter, upon arrival at property, is left red-faced and out-of-pocket.
While there has been no reported incidents in the Cavan-Monaghan region, Community Crime Prevention Officer, Sergeant Noel Harraghy, told The Anglo-Celt: “We are warning people to be aware that this sort of scam is out there. There are some fake landlords out there, or fake agents, who will happily take the deposit from a person online and disappear with the money.
“We would say if you are dealing with an agent, check if they are from a reputable agency and beware of incorrect contact details and phone numbers. Make sure too that you have seen inside the property before paying a deposit and are happy with its condition. If you are suspicious in any way, contact the Gardaí immediately,” Sgt Harraghy added.
The scam is being driven by a demand for rental properties, therefore creating an otherwise hopeless mismatch in supply versus demand nationally. The issue that has prompted the Union of Students in Ireland to opine that there is not enough traditional-type student accommodation available.

Cavan rentals
According to one property website at lunchtime last Friday, September 2, there were 12 properties for rent in the Cavan Town area, ranging in price from €450 per month for a one bedroom apartment, €120 weekly/ €480pm for a two bed, to €750pm for a three bedroom house.
Worth in the region of €10 million to the local economy per year, Cavan Institute once again expects to welcome similar student numbers to last year, at approximately 1,400.
While the housing scenario may not be as grim in Cavan as in some major urban areas, like many towns with large colleges there remains a high demand for student accommodation locally.
“We would estimate there would be approximately 300 to 400 students looking for accommodation.
Usually, we have students from all counties in the south, including Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Mayo and Sligo, but the majority who are not from County Cavan are from surrounding counties such as Meath, Leitrim, Monaghan and Louth,” a spokesperson for Cavan Institute told The Anglo-Celt.
Similar to other colleges, Cavan Institute does not directly deal with placing students in accommodation and does not have on-site accommodation. Instead to assist students in their search, the college set up a Facebook page “studentaccommodationcavan” and an accommodation notice board to facilitate property owners to advertise rental availabilities directly.
“I’m not surprised [at the shortage]. But it’s not just student accommodation, it’s simply an issue with rental accommodation out there at the present time,” outlines Declan Woods, auctioneer in Cavan Town. He told the Celt: “You take a look at any of the leading marketing tools used by renters, the likes of Daft.ie or that, the problem is: there just isn’t any available accommodation at present. Where once, may two or three years ago you’d have around 70 to 100 posted on there, now you’d be lucky to have seven or nine. That’s the situation right now.”